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For use with Leonard Sweet’s book, Nudge

FOR CURWENSVILLE ALLIANCE @MENMIGHTY

Nudge – Chapter Two

If you’re having trouble understanding the concept of semiotics, think of it as “reading the room.” Everyone does this. Guys do it all the time. They walk into a gathering — a party, a hunting camp, a ball field, a small group — and they look around and see who’s who and what’s what. Who are the leaders? Who are the followers? Who are the pretenders? What are the unwritten rules? What are the risks? What are the rewards? At twelve years of age, you learned to do this so that you could posture — strike the appropriate pose. 🙂

The difference in Sweet’s nudging semiotics is that you’re not reading the room — you’re reading what God might be doing in the room. You’re asking questions like, Has God opened any hearts? Is he already at work here? How can I cooperate with what he is doing? You’re using the Henry Blackaby tactic of discovering where God is working — and joining him there.

Potential Discussion Questions

Sweet lays out three premises: “1) Jesus is alive and active in our world; 2) Followers of Jesus ‘know’ Jesus well enough to recognize where he is alive and moving in our day; 3) Evangelists nudge the world to wake up to the alive and acting Jesus and nudge others in ways God is alive and moving” (p. 66). Do you grasp and concur with these premises?

Do you feel that your experience with God has been one where Jesus is “present tense” (p. 68)? Is Jesus active in your day to day experience? If one is not seeing this, what might need to occur?

Sweet says, “Rather than wresting the sinner’s prayer out of a person who will say anything to get out of the headlock, it is a nudge toward the undeniable truth that is alive in all of us. Such a nudge is a shared moment over the crib of the firstborn of a friend counting toes and marveling at the entire miniature beauty, the acknowledgement of a miracle. What parent, in that moment, would contradict? There is little talk of primordial soup in or big bangs in the hospital nursery” (p. 70).Have you experienced those divine moments in conversation with another? Share.

Sweet says that “…the bulk of the work of Christ…is not done in a court context. It is done in a hospital context, which is all about health and healing. The quicker we can move those racked by their afflictions from the courtroom to the hospital, the quicker we’re about the healing and restoring work of Christ and the church.” What does he mean — “court context” vs “hospital context”?

The seven deadly sins are: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. Do you feel like “gloom” is a viable candidate to be included in a list of deadly sins (p. 85)?

Sweet gives ten reasons we struggle to see Jesus: 1) We are too close (over-familiarity? ); 2) We’ve created a false division between the sacred and the secular; 3) We suffer from resurrection phobia (We like the God on the pages, not the God in real life); 4) We fail to see the essential nature of “relationship” in recognition; 5) Jesus tends not to show up where we expect him and not to announce himself with trumpets; 6) We don’t look for him where there is joy; 7) We don’t earnestly desire to see him; 8) We emphasize what WE do instead of what CHRIST does; 9) We want a “real” kingdom, so we politicize our faith; 10) We lose heart because God doesn’t come through the way we expect (demand) he should.Which of these ten are struggles for Christians you know? For you?

For use with Leonard Sweet’s book, Nudge

For Curwensville Alliance @MenMighty

Nudge – Chapter One

What’s the difference between evangelism based in fear and evangelism based in love? Is fear never an appropriate element in sharing the gospel? Why do you think Sweet seems to steer away from it in Nudge?

What does Sweet mean by the phrase, “Good business strategists live on base hits”? (p. 32)

Sweet indicates that some evangelism tends “to violate others’ dignity.” What might he mean by this? Have you witnessed it? (p. 33)

Do you agree that people today tend to worry more about never having lived than where they will spend eternity? (p. 33)

How do you react to the suggestion that, if someone is strong-armed into faith before honestly seeing their need, it may be detrimental to them? (see the Sarte quote, p. 35).

Sweet says, “Nudging is made up of small things, but it is no small thing. Small inputs can have massive consequences. It is less that ‘everything matters’ than that small things matter everywhere.” (p. 39) What does he mean by that last sentence?

What do you make of Sweet’s statement, “The more I discover what I am, the more miserable I get; the more I discover who God is and who God made me, the happier I become”? (p. 40)

“What counts in evangelism is not cognition, but recognition.” (p. 41) What does this mean? Do you need no cognition (the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses)? Where do you need recognition?

Sweet says, “Not acknowledging Christ when he appears is dereliction of discipleship.” How do you know when he is already at work in someone?

How do you, personally, work to triangulate Scripture, Culture, and Spirit? How do you “walk a tonal tightrope”? (p.45)

For our purposes, Semiotics is, simply stated, reading the world around you from a spiritual / divine perspective. Do you think human society is becoming better at this, or worse? Do you see the necessity of doing this, as it relates to nudging? Explain.

Sweet suggests that Jesus’ ministry was more a semiotics ministry than a preaching, teaching, or healing ministry (p.59). Do you see this? What does the abundance of semiotics in Jesus’ ministry say about evangelism?

What one thing can you take from this chapter that will help you become more proficient at nudging?

Looking for Cottages for Sale at Mahaffey Camp?

About 25 years ago, Laurel and I borrowed money from my parents and invested it in our family by buying a cottage at Mahaffey Camp. Our children, Tim and Esther, wore out their sneakers running around THEIR Camp. The spiritual enrichment they received was priceless. They made life-changing decisions for Christ in those years. Laurel and I agree, it was one of the best investments we ever made in our children’s lives.

Every year at Mahaffey Camp, someone is faced with the difficult decision to sell their cottage. I resolved, years ago, to help these people by providing a web site where there cottages could be listed for sale. Additionally, this helps people who find themselves where Laurel and I were years ago – looking for a way to invest in the spiritual development of their family.

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If you are interested in listing a cottage located at Mahaffey Camp for sale here, please read How to List a Cottage.

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